Secrets Aren't Meant to be Kept

What we hide

What we hide

He pulled the girl in to his arms. She instantly clinched onto him, shivering.

"My grandpa," she said. He turned to see the old man in the bed.

Nightwing was overheated, sweaty, and worn-out, but he was breathing clearly, now, thanks to the gas mask on his face. He had enough energy, or adrenaline-which ever one-, to carry them both out.

He took a step forward to the man, but the slime reached him first. It was too late for him, yet not for the girl, or so he thought.

He would later find out that the girl had died from respiratory problems. Her lungs were already filled with the toxic gas before he saved her from the slime.

Like always, his dream shifted from failure to pain.He was chained to the wall this time.Slade and a woman that he couldn't see were talking. When they noticed he was up, Slade grabbed a sharp object from the table and strolled toward him. He whispered in his ear, "Try not to pass out this time. We don't have all the time in the world to wait for you."It was the only warning, which he received, before the object was pierced into his body.

Dick woke up, sweating and gasping for air. While they had not been able to track down the criminal, Slade was able to find him every night in his dreams.

He slammed his fist on his bed, in his apartment.

For over a week, since Slade showed up, he had been plagued with nightmares about Blüdhaven and that man. Most of the dreams were his. Dreams of Catalina, Blockbuster, meetings with Slade and his daughter Rose, and the countless people that he failed to save were all rolled up in a nightly terror.

However, the dreams, which featured him being torture by Slade, weren't his. They belong to his friend a few blocks away. Every wound inflicted on him, every scream torn from his mouth, and every blood and tear that he shed were all from Raven's dreams, or rather memories.

"You look like crap. I doubt there is a makeup kit that is able to fix that face of yours."

Rachel didn't response. Not because she didn't want to, but because it was true. She hadn't slept well since Slade had appeared. She spent her night tossing and turning in her bed, fighting a demon that wasn't there and pouring in sweat from a battle she couldn't win.

It was taking a toll on her mentally and physically as she lost weight from the stress. Yet, that wasn't the worst part of it. The toll that it took on her emotions began to show. Thus, when she closed the cabinet behind the mirror door with a click, she wasn't surprised to see her other form glaring at her.

Red. The mirror was engulfed in red. Red eyes- all four of them. Red skin. Red gem. Rage consumed her.

"You could have told me that Slade had returned."

Rachael swallowed ten pills this time. The number of pills that she took daily had increased. Dramatically.

"I would have if you had answered my calls. It was you, who chose not to." She push passed her and drank the cup of herbal tea that was waiting for her. "I figured one of them would have told you. "

"Actually, I had to hunt them down when I noticed the dark clouds forming in your mind. For once, your emotions were quiet, very quiet. It was the wimpy one in the gray that told me."

Of course.

"But I wonder," she continued, "why they were so quiet. I mean, I can understand rage, because ..."her hand flowed up then down at Rachael's appearance. "But the others would have told me, unless you told them not to."